Creighton University pulls alumni honor for Joe Ricketts

OMAHA, NE (Omaha World-Herald News Service) – Creighton University announced Wednesday it will no longer include Joe Ricketts in a university event honoring accomplished alumni, citing personal emails by Ricketts that became public earlier this week.

The university uninvited Ricketts, a 1968 Creighton graduate, from its first-ever Evening of Honors event, scheduled for Friday.

In an email to Creighton alumni, President Reverend Daniel Hendrickson says he spoke with Ricketts on Tuesday, and he will not receive the award.

Ricketts has apologized for the emails that included racist jokes, conspiracy theories and references to Islam as quote “a cult and not a religion.”